Oil and gas drilling projects are the primary means by which oil companies recover large volumes of commercially available hydrocarbons from deep reservoirs. These types of projects are complex in nature, involving management of multiple stakeholder interfaces, multidisciplinary personnel, complex contractor relationships, and turbulent environmental and market conditions, necessitating the application of proven project management best practices and critical success factors (CSFs) to achieve success. Whereas there is a CSF approach to managing complex projects in construction, manufacturing, and even R&D, there is no empirically verified project management CSF approach to implementing (complex) oil and gas drilling projects. Additionally, the literature has reported alarming rates of oil and gas drilling project failure, which is attributable not to technical factors but to failure of project management. The aim of this two-part quantitative correlational study therefore, was to discover an empirically verified list of project management CSFs, which consistent application leads to successful implementation of drilling projects. The study collected survey data online, from two randomly derived samples of oil and gas drilling personnel: Members of LinkedIn's online community "Drilling Supervisors, Managers, and Engineers".

The detection of the source of communication and pressure build up in the first or second annuli presents a huge challenge to the industry. Dubai Petroleum has been utilizing an acoustics based logging tool to pinpoint the source of high pressures in the annuli of its gas lifted oil producers and water injectors in its offshore operations. This paper presents a description of the technology and the findings from Dubai Petroleum's experience on several case histories. An ultrasonic leak detection tool has been developed for down-hole applications, to take advantage of the unique properties of ultrasound energy propagation through various media. This data acquisition equipment has been developed to allow continuous logging operation on conventional electric line cable or memory mode on slick line. The movement of fluids across a failed barrier creates turbulence creating high frequency ultrasound waves that are detected by the tool sensor. This new tool is different from the conventional noise logs as its highly customized multiple sensitivities enable the detection of leaks as small as 0.02 Liters per minute with an accuracy of 1 Inch in the production tubing, casing and other completion equipment. It is also less prone to disturbances from distant noise sources. The successful experience gained by Dubai Petroleum in utilizing this technology has confirmed that ultrasonic based well leak detector technology can accurately detect very small tubing and casing leaks. Introduction: The challenges related to well integrity issues are a major concern in a growing inventory of aging wells all over the world. Interventions to repair the leaking wells or closing and abandoning wells have led to high operating cost, low overall oil recovery, and in some cases unsafe operation. The reasons why leakages occur can be different, and finding the causes is a very complex task. Internal and/or external corrosion is probably the most common cause of leaks in aging wells completions. The varying stress/strain regimes a well is subjected to during its service life can lead to failure of one or more of its safety critical elements: tubulars, production packers, down hole safety valves, SSDs, mandrels etc.